Islamabad:
In November of last year, the government announced that 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims would carry out the Hajj in 2025. According to Hajj policy, the Hajj quota was divided with a 50:50 ratio between the government and the regimes of the private Hajj with 89,605 seats reserved for each.
However, in a statement published Thursday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Umar BATT, announced that only 23,620 pilgrims in Pakistan could carry out the HAJJ in 2025 as part of the HAJJ private program
Before the announcement, the secretary of the ministry informed the senatorial committee according to which around 67,000 people registered in a private program did not seem to be able to carry out the HAJJ this year.
During a meeting of the Senate Committee on Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the President of the Private Hajj Operators have given detailed briefings.
The president of the association, Sanaullah, told the committee that the federal cabinet had approved the Hajj 2025 policy after a delay of more than two months because of which the tour operators of the Hajj could not submit their requests in time.
He said that the funds of 67,000 pilgrims – 680 million Riyals – had already been transferred to Saudi Arabia, and due to the remaining limited time, other provisions were not possible. He demanded that a high -level committee be sent to Saudi Arabia, urging the Prime Minister to intervene in this area.
The senatorial committee unanimously decided to write a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asking for a meeting so that he can speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
